


Vid Commentary: Level Up

by helcinda



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Commentary, Fanvids, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8184178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helcinda/pseuds/helcinda
Summary: Vids: Now With Extra Words!Contains entirely too much waffling on about vidding Level Up (and a little waffling on about Long Live).





	

Last year, I idly toyed with the idea of doing a brief commentary for Long Live, then got caught up in various other fandom projects, before later realizing it wouldn't have really been long enough to merit sitting down and writing anything. This week, while I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say to preface Level Up, I realized I actually had a LOT to say about that one, and it kind of involved the LL process.

When I started planning Long Live, I knew it was going to be a fairly loose and fast format. God bless Taylor Swift, but she didn't write very exciting music back on Speak Now, and, as a result, Long Live is a fairly uninteresting song, technically speaking. What makes it (and all of her songs) great is the strength of the writing, so right away, I knew I would be vidding to the lyrics (all the while hearing "DON'T VID TO THE LYRICS!!" from numerous Vidding 101 posts screeching in the back of my mind). 

This fandom is an RPF vidder's _dream_ , thanks to the amount of extremely high quality footage of iconic moments from any number of concerts, but it's also rich in official behind the scenes/day in the life type of footage that was fed out on a regular basis during the height of One Direction's rise. With that in mind, then, I made a conscious decision not to use any amateur concert footage. It didn't particularly fit with the very specific point of view of the lyrics, and besides, trying to track down multiple world tours' worth of iconic moments for one vid was entirely too daunting to even contemplate. (HA.)

The story that Long Live told was a story _from_ One Direction _to_ us, and it didn't need any input from us as fans. So Long Live was edited, and released, and received warmly, and I thought I was done. 

Then, last September, I was idly typing the song lyrics I had stuck in my head into the tags of [this gifset](http://oliviacirce.tumblr.com/post/128720455112/pastelperries-artist-evolution-one). Olivia picked up on it, we started discussing it, and the combination of the two curled up in my brain and refused to leave. We talked about it on her couch the night before the Boston concert; I distinctly remember saying I didn't want to make a sequel to LL, but I felt like the story wasn't finished. There was a huge part of it that still needed to be told. I was ready to go forward with it as we hit the break between the North America and UK tour dates, but I knew if I tried to track down six months of concert videos while also trying to keep up with the last month of the tour, I would drive myself round the bend. So in the meantime, I planned.

If Long Live was a story told _to_ us, Level Up was _our_ story.

I've been on the outskirts of 1D fandom for a long time. I'm on tumblr; you can't really escape it. I put up my best defenses against fully joining the fandom, until a very specific set of circumstances lined up perfectly, and before I knew it, I was completely in, just in time for OTRA to kick off. If I didn't have others confirming what I saw, I'd chalk it up to having just jumped into the fandom. But the more people I talked to, the more I realized, that, yes, OTRA was different. The energy was different. It was buoyant, and it was unexpected. It was, in every aspect of the word, awesome. With that in mind, and knowing I wanted to celebrate 2015 as a whole, I dove in to the huge archive of memorable tour moments (and maybe a few forgotten gems) that tumblr gifmakers so wonderfully provide. The problem with that method was, because I didn't have a solid, linear storyline, I didn't really have a good idea of what, exactly, I was going to want or need in terms of concert videos.

As a result, I ended up with a folder that weighs in at 179 GB, containing 2,130 videos in total (plus a few extras just in case they were needed). (They weren't.) I can't even begin to tell you how many hours of footage that is. (That's not even getting into how many deleted videos I ran up against. Some of the most impactful moments I could've added were from videos that had been deleted in the interim. There were a few I was able to recover, thanks to some very kind strangers - the LiLo powerade fight being one of those.) Clipping - the process of watching through the source video and taking out the moments that will be usable for the actual vid - alone took nearly two months. I've never even dreamed of working on something of this scale.

(This isn't even getting into the computer issues I had. Briefly: I had to replace a failed hard drive soon after I'd started gathering sources. Ashley, incredibly helpfully, saved and stored most of the November promotion appearances for me while my laptop was out of commission. I had to call on her help again, after that replaced hard drive also failed. In May, after I'd already collected every single one of my source videos, the motherboard on that laptop failed and I had to buy an entirely new system, then wait (and hope that the entire thing didn't kick the bucket) while the entire project folder was slowly slowly slowly uploaded onto dropbox so I could migrate it to the new computer. It's been a trying year.)

Then came time to put all that concert footage into something coherent and cohesive. Long Live was great in terms of storyboarding; I think my list looked something like, "Verse/Chorus 1 - X Factor/UAN, Verse/Chorus 2 - TMH, Verse/Chorus 3 - Devastation/WWA." Very straightforward, with an internal story that mirrored the 1D story. Cake.

Level Up, though, just has a theme. It's a _great_ theme, but it's not so great when you're staring at nearly 3,000 usable subclips and no obvious way of organizing them in a straight line. It's also not your average pop song. It is exquisitely crafted and layered, which meant that, in order to do it justice, I couldn't just slap clips on the timeline willy-nilly and move on, they needed to be precise. And in order to be precise, I needed to count the beats, in a song that has an incredibly mystifying time signature. (Vienna Teng recently tweeted the answer to this question, and, while it didn't save me any headaches, at least I know why I had them in the first place.) I had to come up with my own way of counting out the rhythm I wanted to follow, then try not to lose it as the song moves through its various phrases. I think I went through about thirty tries before I finally got a cut that was as close as I could possibly get, which just so happened to be two days before it was published. I still can't listen to the song without obsessively counting the beats and checking them against the edit points (which aren't perfect, to my endless frustration).

The worst part, though, hands down, was definitely the first verse. Vienna Teng, I love you, but the next time you make a perfect-for-1D song, please don't use the phrase "come out". Anywhere. At all.

I'm incredibly proud of this first section, though, because it IS a bit of a challenge to edit from a vidding standpoint. The first twenty seconds have no discernible beat, and gaps in which there's nothing happening _at all_. I've never really considered myself a capital-V vidder; I'm not overly technical in any aspect of vidding, and instead prefer to make ridiculously happy and/or cheesy montages to songs that may be a little too on-the-nose for the source material. I love _watching_ complex vids, but the idea of making them is just not what I enjoy. What I have learned, though, in the past year, is how to trust my instincts when it comes to editing. The first minute of the song went through only one major change in the editing process, and that's the section from :30 to :40. I originally planned to follow the rhythm that gets established at :21, and basically not deviate from that for the entirety of the vid. Instead, I found that those long building notes that lie in between the lyrics and the percussion track fought with the edit points. Those notes are actually pretty instrumental (lol) in building up to the song actually taking off, and by cutting partially to those cues, and to the lyrics themselves, the edits help the viewer transition from the stillness of the first twenty seconds to the pace that the rest of the vid is going to take. (The quick cuts in the first instrumental section, while handily filling a short space that didn't have much in the way of direction, also help to notify the viewer that we're about to barrel full steam ahead.)

I finished the first 48 seconds at the beginning of May, then had the Great Computer Meltdown not too long afterwards. In the weeks it took to get everything back up and running, I watched that tiny clip over and over again, trying not to be discouraged at how long I was unable to work on it, and how slowly the entire project was moving. When I first started the project, I thought I would be done by mid-March. 1DBB happened, so I pushed it back a little. May 8 was the date I published LL, so I thought I could post the new one on the same day. I was worried that the longer it took, the less enthusiasm I would have, and I wouldn't be able to finish, despite my love for the concept. The last edit I made on my old laptop was to put the shot from Drag Me Down with "begin again", and if I hadn't done that, there's a real possibility that I _wouldn't_ have pushed forward. Every time that shot came up and then cut to black, I got excited about what came next. It's still one of my favorite moments in the entire vid.

The hardest part of picking clips for any given moment, was that, unless you were _absolutely obsessive_ about watching OTRA and MITAM promo videos, the clips are virtually indistinguishable from one another. There are a few notable moments (bless you, James Corden), and footage from, say, the Live Lounge is pretty immediately identifiable, but other than that, there's no way to pick a particular clip and signify to the viewer, "HERE, pay attention to this, IT HAS SIGNIFICANCE." The DMD video came in REALLY handy when I needed this shorthand, but it didn't apply to everything I wanted to highlight. (To me, that's part of what makes 2015 such an incredible year for One Direction. Aside from the obvious - being one member down - _nothing_ they did was out of the ordinary. Sure, the Live Lounge was new territory, but it was still a promotional performance. DMD was the beginning of the new music era, but it was still a single release. And yet they still managed to elevate themselves to the point where the year stands out for more than just the obvious reason.)

When I got to the section starting at :56, I knew I wanted extra focus on that. The lyrics ("we are all cinders/from a fire burning long ago") were a natural point for a callback to previous years, and my first thought for that moment. But the closer I got to that section, the more I realized that I didn't want any footage from previous years. I didn't even want any footage from before March 19 (the day Zayn left the tour). I realized the easiest way to call that back was by only using footage of various WMYB formations. The ones I wanted to highlight, but couldn't, were the ones that had the biggest emotional punch in the context of the lyrics. I specifically wanted to use a shot from one of the South Africa dates (the first shows after Zayn officially quit), but thanks to the lack of HQ video from those dates (still baffling), I ended up going with Dubai. The second is from the October 31 Sheffield show.

(I literally just noticed that those two clips have the boys standing in mirror image. What are the freaking odds.)

I also knew that the section needed to have footage from that last X Factor performance in December. It was everything all rolled into one: the last OT4 performance (for now), the last (actual) performance of 2015, them going back to where it all started. Originally it was the beginning of the group hug, but since I had another part of that hug later in the vid, I knew I needed to change it. This was just about the last edit I made to the entire thing, and as I was skipping through the video to see if anything jumped out at me, this shot appeared, and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. The juxtaposition of the picture shot from behind with the performance happening in the front was just perfect, and it was a great way to give a "look where we came from" perspective while not falling outside the parameters I'd set for myself. (And because I'm me, and have to make things difficult, I immediately found two more options, then frantically texted Olivia all three, going "OMG WHICH ONE DO I USE?????")

(It also should be cropped so the focus is easier for the viewer. Yet another tiny thing that will bother me to the end of time.)

This isn't super important in the overall finished product, but I'd like to thank whatever camera operator who had the foresight to shoot this bit of B roll for the DMD behind the scenes video. When I saw it, I immediately texted Ashley a picture of it, screeching about how I HAD to include it somehow, it was TOO PERFECT.

The section starting at 1:17 is the first of the two "everybody here" phrases that I had earmarked to include the fans; the other was "seams and scars". I wanted one to specifically be the four band members, but also portray the fact that the collaborative nature of the past year included a certain amount of shared heartache. In the very earliest stages, I planned to have the second one include the fans. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wanted to keep the purity of "so what, level up" for the band alone, and have the "loved and lost" line encompass the band and the fans, because we _were_ impacted by Zayn leaving. Originally I had a clip of Niall comforting Liam during a You  & I performance in Cardiff; the video was partially titled "did Liam cry?" IF I had been able to track down the good video in which the four of them cluster in their old places for WMYB and deliberately leave a space for Zayn (in Jakarta), I probably would've been able to make it work with that context. Unfortunately, that video was deleted or taken down, and I had to leave out Liam's quiet moment, because it just didn't really work without any context. I was disappointed at first, because it fit with the lyrics _so well_ , but on further reflection, I'm quite relieved that I changed it. I think it would have brought the tone of the vid down too far; this is a celebration of things that were done, not a way to mourn things that were lost. Besides, the fan projects in Europe turned out to be _exceptional_ material for this section (along with Niall in particular, who is nothing if not _excellent_ at setting up some epic camera shots with himself as the focus. ILU, Niall).

(I'm just going to have a moment about how perfect theses lyrics are. THEY ARE PERFECT. "Level up and love again"? COME ON!)

This was one of my big ones; it was the entire reason this vid came into being. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to handle it, but it turns out that "2.0, rebirth, whatever" actually lined up _perfectly_ with my edit points. "2.0", I knew needed to be the Live Lounge, because of its distinctive footage, and I knew "rebirth" absolutely had to be the Drag Me Down video. Not necessarily for the video itself, but for what the song has become to the fandom as a whole. The fireworks on "whatever" were in an entirely different place in the vid, and when that part ended up getting reworked, I stuck it in to see what happened, and it was _perfect_. (And yes, it is OTRA. Some of the pyro used in Europe was left over from WWA, which I was afraid would be too visually confusing, and ended up scrapping any plans I had to use that footage.)

"Call it your day number one in the rest of forever" was another of the bullet points on my list. I knew I wanted Louis's "two of four" interview clip to be very close to that moment. I wasn't sure what to do for "day number one", since, again, if I were to use concert footage from either Jakarta or Johannesburg (obviously, we don't know when the band was actually told Zayn was officially out, but either of those concerts could be the first one after they learned the news), _you wouldn't know_ unless you were writing a dissertation on OTRA. Hell, I don't even think I could pick between the two dates at this exact moment in time, and I just finished doing a dissertation (of sorts) on OTRA. James Corden came through for me, though, in doing that incredible dodgeball package with the band for their first OT4 interview (in May). It wasn't the first thing they'd done as a four piece, but it was the first time publicly saying, yes, this happened, and we're still here and carrying on.

I also knew I wanted to use a very early WMYB formation for the next shot. I think if I'd been able to use the one I wanted, it would've been a little bit easier to quickly identify as something that happened immediately after Zayn left, but the video was deleted.

(It looked something like this, from a South Africa date:)  


So I went for my next best option, which was from the second Manila date (March 22). It was a very "we've got one another's backs" kind of moment that really resonated, especially considering the fandom atmosphere at the time.

And then I knew that "forever" had to be that X Factor performance. I was really hoping to use the video of them doing hands-in side-stage before they went on, but it was so dark and low quality that it just didn't translate well at all. If you've blocked that entire night from your memory (understandable), this was video shot from the audience as they watched the farewell video that was put together by the show.

(Also in case you don't remember, once they joined up to watch that video, they didn't let one another go until the entire thing was finished. It was like five minutes long.)

I very specifically wanted to hold off on using most of the concert footage I had (the prior WMYB clips being the exception), because that was the heart of 2015, and I wanted it to be in the heart of the song. It's also just about the only time that the general editing specifically follows the overall shift of the lyrics. "Come out" and "come forth" can also be interpreted as just showing up. Now you have "give more", which requires doing. 

I love this vid because it gave me the opportunity to tell what became a pretty wonderfully profound story about One Direction _and_ make the mini OTRA highlight vid of my dreams, and the two ended up meshing together much better than I would've thought. I love the concert sections, they're just so full of joy, and that's not tooting my own horn - that's a reflection on how wonderful that entire tour was. In one of my emails, I wrote that I was worried the vid was a little heavy on Harry-focused clips (a few tweaks helped with that perception). When I started editing, I was nervous that I had so many _fantastic_ shots of Harry individually (mainly making fun of people in the audience) and not enough of him interacting with his bandmates. Then I actually started putting footage together and I _could not get rid of him_. He was EVERYWHERE. Laughingly, I said that, in my more cynical moments, I kept telling myself I did a good job of making Harry look like a part of the band. But once you start paying attention, you get to see just how much he integrates with the others. It just tends to be in a way that the other three _don't_ do, so it gets overlooked. My worrying was for nothing. (I could literally talk about this all day, so I will move on.)

The first part of the bridge was a struggle, and I think Ashley and Olivia will agree with me; I was SO STUBBORN about taking on their suggestions. If I were to completely re-do something in this vid, it would be the black and white section, but the problem is that I have no idea what I would change or what I would use instead. I'm just not super pleased about it. It has become a necessary evil to move from one part of the song to another. The thing I do love about it is that it includes some of my personal video - the shot panning across the crowd as the black and white fades back into color is something I took in Detroit during DFWYB. And then, of course, you have all the Sheffield hugs, which are so perfect for that part of the song that I don't think I could have used anything else.

The first thing I knew I would use for this vid, I figured out before I had even started gathering sources. I knew I needed something big at the end of "this is the day, no other", because of the lyric content _and_ the crescendo in the song itself, but something like a firework shot wouldn't work very well there. It needed to have the same kind of impact that the song has. I remembered one of the early concerts had a great video that would illustrate that moment, but all I could remember was Harry's ridiculous yellow floral shirt, and that doesn't do too well with a general google search. After a little poking around on tumblr and twitter, and being helpfully told that it was from Kiss You in Manila (night one in Manila, no less!), I knew I had my moment. It works beautifully, and it ended up being a great lead-in, in many ways, to the most concert-heavy section of the vid.

The last minute or so of the vid is the longest single editing section, and the one that has probably stayed the most intact since it was first put together. My vidding technique tends to be "slap a bunch of stuff on there and see what sticks and fix/replace what doesn't", and the fact that, by luck or instinct or actual skill, I managed to put together a pretty decent cut on the first try, is pretty special to me as an editor. (It's kind of like, when you're writing, and you sit down and just start typing without much of a plan, and two pages later, you're sitting there going, "oh, huh. This is...really good? Hey, this is good!")

The end did go through a few different versions, but when I landed on this one, it just felt _right_. Originally, I had a shot of the stage as the stadium house lights went down, and I liked it! It was my original vision for the end shot! But something about it just didn't land correctly. I know we're in a bit of limbo, fandom-wise, and I wanted the vid to end on a "to be continued" note as opposed to a closed, "the end" kind of feel. I was hoping that by showing the beginning of a concert, the viewer would get that build-up, the "we've only just started" note that the band tried to leave us with. Instead, it just felt unfinished. Then, when I was looking for something unrelated, I stumbled across a slightly hidden clip from the tour diaries (it's a long explanation, but sometimes some of the clips look like other clips, and it can be INFURIATING if you're looking for something specific) of the guys walking out onstage, and I realized that was what I needed. It started with a stage entrance, so why not end with one? After I finished, I wondered if I should've changed the first and last ones, so that the vid ending was a little less defined, them walking into a blaze of light, but I like the concrete feel of the current order. The beginning of the year was an unknown, and the end of the year was a firm success, in so many ways.

Toward the middle of the editing process, I sat down and watched LL and what I had of LU back-to-back, and I was struck by something that was entirely unintentional - the songs themselves match the atmosphere of the eras they cover. LL is a very traditional pop song, and the overall sound and feel of it lines up perfectly with any of 1D's first four albums. It fits seamlessly with the type of video we were given as well - bright colors, upbeat editing, a minimum of quieter moments. Now that we have MITAM, and the more grown-up feel of what the 1D camp released last year, LU is just so well-suited for it. MITAM has a very distinctive atmosphere that lines up _incredibly_ well with LU. It was an incredible coincidence (I'd already chosen LU well before MITAM was released), but it's another thing that just makes it feel so _right_.

After my second OTRA show last year, I was talking about how much DFWYB means to me, and what an incredible thing it was to experience live. I think it was Olivia who called it a "dynamic feedback loop of joy" (or something to that effect), and making this vid, that phrase just stayed in the front of my mind. Looking back, I think that could also be a great way to sum up all of 2015 for One Direction. I am so incredibly grateful for the amount of work that they invested in making sure they didn't let a major setback be the end of their story. And at the same time, mindful of the part the band itself played, I look back on last year and feel an incredible sense of ownership. 

They made the stadiums and arenas their homes, and they opened those homes to us, and for two hours each night, we walked together.

**Author's Note:**

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> 
> Feel free to come say hi and/or ask about anything else you'd like to know!


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